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Kathy, (aka "Bessie"), and I began our beekeeping experience in the fall of 2008, when we began a year-long course in beekeeping through the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We got our first package of bees in April of 2009. At the suggestion of our daughter, Jessica, we are logging our beekeeping experience. Hope you find it interesting. It has been interesting, rewarding and entertaining for us as well.

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I wish everyone a very happy holiday and a happy new year. This has been a very good year to our family. Sitting here watching a very lovely snowfall on Christmas eve, hoping our "kids" can make the trip safely here this evening, I'm thinking of the great year past. It has been a very good one for our family and we look forward to another great year to come. The bees have done a great job as well and we look to have another great year with them.
Here is a little Christmas gift I made--a 3D stereogram--see if you can spot the hidden object (I'm sure you have no clue what it might "bee" !)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all.

We attended our second session of the Eastern Iowa Beekeepers Association Monday night. The first meeting we attended seemed poorly organized with little to take from it, though one member brought in an observation hive he had constructed that he takes to various area schools. I found that interesting to see. Otherwise, it seemed more like "let's get together and just see what happens."
This time, however, there was a lot of content, things moved right along and Kathy and I left with wanting more. Maybe it was just the cold, December night and not being able to do anything with the bees lately other than go out and see how many dead had been drug out, but it truly was an entertaining and informative meeting and we took some things away from it that I plan to pursue this coming season.
We arrived a bit late, and missed most of the first speaker who appeared to be talking about dangers associated with allergic reactions to bee stings. It took awhile to find chairs as …